UnConventional Opinions for Labor Day

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Lucky thing for George W. Bush and his Republican
National Convention lemmings that they got out of Dodge
before the Labor Day weekend started.

For the unemployed and underemployed, listening to
Republicans preen about job creation (low
wage, but that`s never mentioned) and the
non-existent economic recovery is tough at any time.
But on a national holiday that
honors workers, those spiels might have triggered
even louder outbursts from the disaffected.

For those of us grounded in reality, the RNC made the
week long and arduous.

What a cast of characters! Bush, his
insipid wife Laura, their depressingly dull
twin daughters, the ominously
secretive Cheneys, the bad- rugwearing Zell Miller,
John McCain, Rod Paige,
Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger all were
vying for most inane. If any of them uttered a word of
truth, I missed it.

Giuliani, once a Democrat, is an open-borders
champion. What did Giuliani do to earn his status as a
national hero? His actions on
9/11, while respectable, were no different than what
any other decent man would have done.

I tried to skip the entire unbelievable convention
scene. Every night I promised myself I would relax and
tune in the US Open Tennis Tournament. Who wouldn`t
rather watch
Serena Williams or
Andy Roddick?

But drawn like a moth to a flame, I ended up glued to
the convention, steam jetting out of my ears.

While Bush cannot tangibly defend any aspect of his
first term, except his so-called progress on the “War on
Terror,” real people—working Americans—would like answers
on jobs and the economy.

During the early days of the convention, a symbolic
unemployment line marched from Wall Street to Madison
Square Garden, the site of the convention. Waving pink
slips, the demonstrators, in the words organizer Christ
Wangro, intended to raise “the level of public
discourse above the sound bites of the politicians.“[Forget
the GOP: Biggest N.Y. parties in the streets August 27, 2004, By Verena Dobnik, Associated Press]

Cheated—L1 visa holders pay no
taxes regardless of how high their income is. And
H1-B visa holders receive the bulk of their income in
non-taxable “living expenses.”

Subverted—foreign nationals have
unfettered access both domestically and abroad to
America`s technology, communication and electric
infrastructure.

Duped—when manufacturing jobs moved offshore in the
1970s, Americans were told get training in
technology. Now what do we do?

If you believe—as I do—that the flyer represents the
feelings of most working Americans, then what do you make
of a Republican platform that includes an amnesty for
workers illegally in the US, a guest worker program for
aliens who would take American jobs (See University of
California at Davis Professor Norm Matloff`s evaluation
here.), and increases in
H-1B and H-2B visas that would displace American
workers currently employed?)

I spoke with Ian Fletcher, Vice-President of
Government Relations for the
American Engineering Association for his views on
the impact of non-immigrant visas and outsourcing
policies on the long-term job market.

Speaking to me from Manhattan, which he described as
an
“armed camp,” Fletcher said:

“The Republicans proactively endorse failed policies.
They are as naïve as
Kool-Aid drinkers. They really believe that
everything will work out in the end. The Democrats, on
the other hand, have looked at the problem and decided
not to do anything about it. Kerry has asked himself,
`What is the least I can do to win voters concerned about
outsourcing?` And the least is naturally meaningless.”

Fletcher concluded by observing that,

“The Republicans and the Democrats are leaning on each
others idiocy. It will take two more years for the impact
of visas and outsourcing to fully set in. By then, there
will be no more meaningful debate on how those policies
have hurt the American economy. I pity the winner of the
2004 election. He`ll be left to sort out the mess.”